Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Divided Paths: Factor of X ❯ Clash! Vengeful Knight, ChaosDukemon ( Chapter 3 )

DISCLAIMER: "Digimon Tamers" and "Digimon Savers" are the property of Bandai, Toei Animation, and Akiyoshi Hongo. Original characters are the creations of either Megaraptor or myself.

NOTES: “Michihiko” is the family name I gave Ai & Makoto, since they don't have a canon one. They're named for Michihiko Ohta, singer of the Tamers insert song “Slash!!” and composer of many Digimon songs, even up into the newest series, Savers. I've also changed my formatting a bit with this chapter, hoping this will let me get chapters written a bit faster, and will go back and do the same to the others when I have time. I also shortened this chapter's title, because the original one was way too long.

 

 

Divided Paths

Factor of X

Entry 1.03 - "Clash! Vengeful Knight, ChaosDukemon"

Written by Infinity Blade

--

Were it anyone but Cyberdramon faced with this being - an exact duplicate of Dukemon, differing only in color - there would have been pause. There would have been a moment to reflect on just why a doppelganger of Neo Hypnos' strongest warrior even existed. Anyone else would have questioned if this creature was friend or foe.

Cyberdramon, as luck - good or bad - would have it, wasn't anyone else.

“ERASE CLAW!”

Tearing through the fabric of reality itself to summon his power, Cyberdramon unleashed a white wave of pure, destructive energy across the night sky. ChaosDukemon's yellow eyes glinted, and he swung out with his lance. The weapon struck the energy, and though he seemed to struggle briefly to do so, sent the wave flying harmlessly upwards.

“Beast,” ChaosDukemon's statement had a definite venom to it. “Nothing but a mindless beast.”

In response, Cyberdramon howled, soaring across the distance towards his enemy. Better a beast, in his mind, than a coward who attacks without warning.

ChaosDukemon did not move. He made no attempt to defend himself from the oncoming Perfect. Cyberdramon collided with the knight, claws latching onto his lance and shield. Then, as a look of surprise flashed through ChaosDukemon's eyes, Cyberdramon grinned.

This was because the force of the collision had thrown them off the building ChaosDukemon was standing on.

This enemy underestimated him, the dragon then realized. There was resistance when Cyberdramon hit him, but not enough. Not nearly enough. This Ultimate obviously thought a lower-leveled Digimon wouldn't stand a chance of even budging him.

Which was something that Cyberdramon had encouraged by throwing a weaker Erase Claw at him moments earlier.

Cyberdramon may have been a `beast,' to be certain. He was wild and loved the thrill of battle above anything else.

Yet, the very last thing the dragon was, was stupid.

ChaosDukemon twisted in the air, spinning and swatting Cyberdramon away with his shield. Cyberdramon tumbled briefly, but quickly righted himself. He looked down, watching the Ultimate Digimon effectively drop like a rock.

Dukemon couldn't fly in the Real World. Obviously, neither could this ChaosDukemon, giving Cyberdramon the advantage.

This Digimon, however, was obviously not Takato and Guilmon. Not the true Dukemon. Dukemon would have known better than to underestimate him.

Still, ChaosDukemon continued to fall towards the street below. There was nothing he could do to stop his descent. Soon, he would plow straight into the ground...

The ground that - Cyberdramon now noticed - was teeming with humans that had taken notice of the battle. With ChaosDukemon at street level, they would be in great danger momentarily.

Not a concern of Cyberdramon's.

ChaosDukemon glared up at the dragon, an intense hatred lit in his expression.

Unfortunately, it would be a concern of Ryou's.

Thus, Cyberdramon dove down as fast as he could. Not like he wanted to avoid this fight, anyhow.

Cyberdramon could fly down faster than ChaosDukemon could fall, and the Perfect was soon past him. Then, he was beneath him. Growling, he spun in the air, facing straight up at the sky; and staring straight at ChaosDukemon.

“ERASE...!”

His claws again tore through the invisible walls of time and space. Energy gathered fiercely between his claws, far stronger than earlier.

“CLAW!”

The power ripped through the air, plowing into ChaosDukemon's chest. Cyberdramon didn't relent, he just kept pumping the energy from his claws. The knight rocketed into the sky, higher and higher, until he was above the buildings.

Cyberdramon abruptly cut the flow of power, righting himself. He shot up after him just as gravity took over and ChaosDukemon began to fall again.

“CYBER NAIL!”

Energy lanced from the tips of his claws, spiraling out around them. He thrust them out at the falling Ultimate, fully intent on plowing straight through him.

Instead, with a heavy clang his attack was stopped by ChaosDukemon's shield. “Beast,” ChaosDukemon said with contempt. He was now pushing Cyberdramon down, not allowing the Perfect to escape from the fall for the moment. “You're strong. I'll give you that. But as you are...”

ChaosDukemon knocked Cyberdramon back away from him with his shield. This time the Ultimate spun around, the tip of his lance lighting up with black energy. Before Cyberdramon could get away, he found the charged lance slamming into his side.

There was an explosion from the power, and Cyberdramon was tossed away. Unable to control his direction, the Perfect Digimon barreled through the sky. He couldn't balance himself, couldn't stop the fact that now he was falling. He couldn't even tell where he was, as the pain surging through his being was overwhelming his senses.

He was only brought to a stop when there was nowhere left to fall. The dragon Digimon crashed into some soft, grassy ground - which effectively exploded in all directions from his weight and momentum.

Cyberdramon grunted as he tried to regain his senses. He could hear humans screaming as they ran. He felt around in the mess of soft, brown dirt he then rested in, trying to get a grip on something to stand up. His side burned with pain from ChaosDukemon's blow, but that couldn't be his concern.

Finally, he was on his feet. He was in a small park, where it looked like there had been a festival of some sort going on moments earlier. Now, the humans were already vacating the area, leaving booths unattended. Further away from the park, there was flat, solid ground with small rides and a ferris wheel even further away. The screaming continued there.

That was good. The humans would soon be gone. He could fight there.

ChaosDukemon landed before him on a sidewalk. Obviously lacking the grace of the real Dukemon, the concrete walkway shattered into pieces of varying sizes.

“You aren't the ones I want,” ChaosDukemon said. “But, I suppose if nothing else, beating your carcass into the ground will draw them out.”

Cyberdramon smirked, now readily able to ignore his pain. This guy really was underestimating him.

-- --

Ruki had halfway considered ignoring Ryou's hails echoing from her communication earpiece. She swore that if it wasn't something important, she was going to let him have it for interrupting her meal.

As she and Renamon re-entered the Neo Hypnos operations chamber, however, they both quickly realized they probably should have came quicker. Spread out across several viewing screens was an image being fed directly from Ryou's Digivice. It was everything that his partner, Cyberdramon, was currently seeing.

And what he was seeing was a truly disturbing sight.

Onodera Megumi, standing at the doorway Ruki and Renamon had come through, sighed. “You know, I had just been coming into to relieve Reika's shift... but I get the feeling we're all in for a long night.”

That's an understatement, Ruki thought to herself, staring in shock at the darkly armored Dukemon. Other Tamers - Hirokazu, Shinichi, and Takao - and their partners were standing around on the floor had similar expressions.

Yamaki, already standing up on the main platform with Reika and Ryou, clicked his lighter. “Just how is this possible?”

“It shouldn't be!” Ruki's voice cut across the chamber, drawing their attention to them. “Takato created Guilmon himself, and all of his forms came from that... he's one of a kind, nothing like that should exist!”

“Where's Guilmon and Takato?” Yamaki asked, his tone demanding.

“Guilmon went home a little while ago,” Ryou said.

“And Takato's out with Juri,” Hirokazu said. He then blinked. Hard. “WAIT! You're not saying...”

“What a preposterous accusation!” Guardromon exclaimed.

“I didn't say this is Takato and Guilmon,” Yamaki said, harshly and loudly enough that the robot actually took a step back. “Whatever this is, though...”

“We'll probably need them,” Ryou said, glancing back at the image of Cyberdramon's vision as he dodged another attack from the knight.

“Lee!” Yamaki suddenly roared, and Jaarin over by a computer terminal visibly jumped in her seat.

“Y-yes sir?” Jaarin squeaked.

“Contact your brother, Takato, and Kenta, immediately!” Yamaki said. “They need to be there five minutes ago.” He glanced at Hirokazu. “You and Guardromon go pick up Guilmon. Takato doesn't need to waste the time doing that.”

“What about us?” Shinichi questioned, causing Ryuudamon's face to light up.

“You and Hirai stay here,” Yamaki said, and Ryuudamon's expression sagged, along with Takao and Bearmon's. “We don't know if this attack is the only thing we're dealing with, and we may need back-up somewhere.”

“I'll call Genki-kun and Sada-chan back,” Reika said, turning to a panel beside her.

“Call in Fujieda and Norstein, too,” Yamaki said, “have them prepared to remain on stand-by.” He paused, just for a second. “Lee!”

Jaarin jumped again, glancing up at him cautiously. “Yes...?”

“Don't forget the Michihiko twins,” he said. “Beelzebumon needs to get there too.” Yamaki then started turning to face Ryou. Only, as he did so, the young man was running down the stairs.

“Already on it!” Ryou shouted, meeting Ruki and Renamon at the doorway. Without a moment's hesitation, Ruki followed him as he dashed out of the chamber.

“You're lucky, Akiyama!” Ruki shouted after him. “You don't have to run around in color-coded uniforms half the time!”

Ryou shot a grin back at her. “You saying you want to see me in tights?”

The redhead rolled her eyes, while it seemed to elicit a small chuckle out of Renamon. “Lord, no. Not in a million years.”

-- --

Takato was, to put it quite mildly, dumbstruck. This, on average, wasn't exactly an unheard of phenomenon with the Tamer. Yet this situation certainly called for it.

Standing in the room of the love motel, all he could do was stare, silently, at Juri. She sat on the edge of the room's bed, looking back at him, a pleading - almost desperate - look in her eyes.

The black jacket of her school uniform lay over a nearby chair, leaving her in her buttoned-up white shirt and black skirt. One hand was rested at the top of her chest, nervously toying with the top button of her shirt beneath the uniform's bow. The implication of where that was going was increasing Takato's nervousness by the moment.

Takato had a hard time wrapping his mind around the whole situation. This didn't seem like Juri. Asking if he actually cared about her, practically begging him to physically prove it by taking him to this place...

But then, he remembered when he was ten. When Juri seemed like just a happy, pretty - if somewhat quirky - girl that he had a crush on.

Then Leomon died, and she became a victim of the D-Reaper, on top of it.

He learned then, and the time following that, that she was very good at hiding her feelings from everyone. Even those she loved.

He thought after all of the time, he had learned to see past it.

Apparently, he was wrong.

“Juri...” he began, and then stopped, swallowing hard. His throat felt so dry...

The first button became unfastened, and she cast her eyes at the floor, now tugging at her bow. “Why won't you even come near me, Takato?”

That was a good question. One that Takato couldn't really answer, yet he found himself walking towards her regardless. She looked back up, frowning.

“Is it something wrong with me? Why did you come here this far if you won't...” she trailed off, as the bow's knot was undone and it feel loose around her neck. “I just...”

A sigh escaped Takato's mouth, and he sat down next to her. “Juri, we don't have to do anything like this to-“

She cut him off. “It's been like this for years. You've been like this for years. You say you want to be with me, and I want to be with you, but...” She turned to look at him, reaching out and placing a hand on his cheek. “Words and actions are two different things. You can't... you can't even bring yourself to come to me on days you know I would be hurting inside, and I don't understand why...”

Her hand dropped, and she looked away. “I don't know if there's something wrong with me. I don't know if it's you. I know it sounds so selfish, but if- if you don't really feel that way, then we should both just...”

She didn't finish, and her voice was beginning to tremble. Takato wondered, had he really been that careless? Was he that distant and thoughtless?

All he had wanted to do was protect her...

“Juri,” he said, though it came out barely above a whisper. He reached out, gently grabbing her shoulder and turning her to face him.

This couldn't be wrong, could it? He cared about her, he wanted her to be happy...

He stared down into her shimmering eyes, wrapping his other arm cautiously around her back. She didn't move, and said nothing, seemingly waiting to see what he would do.

If this was what he needed to do, then...

For her to be happy, it's my... responsibility...

His lips met hers, kissing her gently, at first. At that sign, the girl kissed him back with considerable more force, throwing her arms around him. The kiss deepened from there, their tongues meeting and washing over one another.

Takato would be lying if he said he really knew what he was doing. Despite that, he shifted their weight, laying her down on the bed... leaving him basically sitting on top of her.

He broke the kiss abruptly, and stared down at her. What he was about to do fully dawned on him, and he found himself somehow frozen. His pulse was quickening, and his face was reddening, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to move.

Juri stared at him, inquisitively, and then smiled a bit. “You don't need to be nervous, Takato,” she said, grabbing one of his hands. “I don't want you to treat me like I'm so fragile... I know you won't hurt me...”

He let her move his hand, and tensed when she placed it on her chest. His face reddened as he realized what he was touching. “J-Juri...”

She looped her arms around his neck, pulling him back down. “Don't hold back,” she murmured, “I just want us to be together...”

Their lips began to brush together again, and in that moment, a thought flashed through his mind.

This is wrong.

His reflexes overrode his primal instincts, and he snapped back. He escaped her hold, sitting up straight on the bed. “Juri, we can't do this. I... I can't do this...”

The girl's expression changed abruptly, at first surprised, and then looking visibly upset. “Takato... why...”

Takato shook his head wildly, sliding off the bed. “I... I just can't. We can't... not like this...”

Juri sat up on her knees, tears now threatening to spill from her eyes. “Why?” she asked again.

He looked away, not being able to bear that expression. “I- I just...”

“I know you're my friend, Takato,” she said softly. “My best friend... I know that you want to protect me, but...” She paused, sniffling. “But... is that where it stops?”

He didn't say anything. There wasn't much he could say.

“You're so careful to not say or do anything that would upset me... ever. You can't even bring yourself to see me when the D-Reaper anniversary comes up... You're so careful and deliberate about even touching me...”

“Juri,” he said, still not turning back around. “Just... please...”

He wanted to say `stop,' but couldn't bring himself to do it.

“In all this time, Takato... did you ever ask yourself why you're doing all of this?”

Takato opened his eyes, and began turning around. Before he could even begin to process that comment, he heard a slight buzzing in his ear.

He hadn't even taken the comm unit out of his ear, and had completely forgotten about it. Mentally cursing Yamaki's timing, he managed to look at Juri.

Instantly, he wished he hadn't. She was hugging herself, tears streaming down her face, which was red from... what? Embarrassment? Shame? Or something else entirely?

Sighing as the buzzing continued without end, Takato tapped the earpiece. “This is Battle Tamer Matsuda. Over.”

“Takato-kun!” a chipper voice exclaimed over the line. The teenager blinked, instantly recognizing it.

“J-Jaarin-san?”

“No time for explanations,” she said. “Administrator Yamaki is having me contact all Ultimate-class Tamers. An Ultimate Digimon has appeared and is currently battling Cyberdramon. Everyone else has already been contacted, and Hirokazu-kun is en route to pick up Guilmon and take him to the battle.”

“An Ultimate...” Takato muttered to himself. It had been a long time since one had Realized... why didn't they know about it sooner?

“We don't know where it's come from, we- I just know that Jen and the others are going to need Dukemon. Because, well, um...”

Takato raised an eyebrow. “Jaarin-san? Is there something different about this Digimon?”

“It... well, it is Dukemon,” she said. “In darker armor. But, it's unmistakably Dukemon...”

Takato's eyes widened, and he looked back to Juri. Her tear-stained face turned away, saying nothing.

His heart felt torn. He wanted desperately to know what to do. He wanted to know what he was really even feeling. And yet, this Digimon - this battle - it was something he had no choice but to join.

“Go,” she mumbled. “I... it doesn't matter for now. You were put here to protect people. That's more important than anything else...”

He forced himself to turn away. He had to. There was no choice.

He made himself walk. As he went out the door, that walk became a run. He didn't - knew that he couldn't - break that run. Because if he did, he knew he might slow down and look back...

-- --

The battle had become one-sided. Much as he hated to admit it, Cyberdramon was becoming quickly aware of this fact. As his and ChaosDukemon's fight moved through the now-evacuated human festival, the dragon was on the defensive. Completely. Any attacks were avoided or deflected easily by the Ultimate.

Cyberdramon had given him too much time to understand his techniques.

On the other hand, Cyberdramon was keeping up well enough with dodging ChaosDukemon's blows. A jab with his lance here, a kick there. Though this Digimon wasn't really Dukemon, though he was far more careless and not nearly as skilled, he was enough like Dukemon that Cyberdramon could read his moves.

Still, he couldn't keep it up forever. Eventually, one of those jabs would cut through the Perfect's defense, and it would all be over.

He needed to do something.

Jumping away from ChaosDukemon, Cyberdramon took his one advantage over the knight: flight. Soaring up above the Ultimate, Cyberdramon took aim.

“ERASE...!”

He again gathered his strength, gathering as much power from the small rips in time and space he created as he could. He held it for several moments, charging the attack, while ChaosDukemon only stood there, staring at him.

“CLAW!”

He finally unleashed it, and ChaosDukemon braced himself. The knight jammed his lance into the ground and held up his shield, which intercepted the oncoming blast. Energy spilled out from around the shield, destroying the ground in front of him, obliterating booths, trees, and walkways behind him. In the end, however, as the blue-white glow of Cyberdramon's power faded, ChaosDukemon himself was unharmed.

But Cyberdramon was no longer in the sky.

He was back on the ground, dashing beneath ChaosDukemon's shield. The dragon gave a roar, swiping up with one claw, tearing through the dimensional space ChaosDukemon occupied in the process.

The tear traveled along his chest, and ChaosDukemon screamed. Grinning wildly, Cyberdramon sent his other claw flying up, tearing a small time-space rip through the Ultimate's arm, eliciting another cry of pain. And, on top of that, it made him drop his shield.

Both claws met right in front of ChaosDukemon's face, fistfuls of energy already generated. “ERASE CLAW!”

The point-blank attack sent ChaosDukemon flying, his metal-clad body smashing into the pavement of the park. It shattered beneath him, and the knight screamed.

This was good, Cyberdramon knew. He could hurt this thing. If he could hurt him, that meant he could kill him.

“FOOL!” ChaosDukemon screamed, leaping back to his feet, seemingly no worse for the wear. Black light lanced out around his lance. “You dare think you have what it takes to harm me? BEAST!” He dashed forward, thrusting his lance out. “DEMON'S DISASTER!”

That attack was the same as Royal Saber. Cyberdramon instantly recognized it, but didn't have the time to get away far enough. Instead of hitting him, at least, it struck the ground before him, violently tossing him back. He crashed through several of the humans' festival booths, coming to a stop as he roughly slid along hard pavement.

He howled, the pain in his side from an earlier attack flaring up on top of this new pain. His body hurt so much he could barely move it, only able to tilt his head enough to see ChaosDukemon walking towards him. His shield was back in his hand, and was starting to glow brightly.

Final Elysian?

“JUDECCA PRISON!” ChaosDukemon cried and shot a beam of light... into the sky.

Cyberdramon didn't understand at first, but it all became clear moments later. Smaller beams of light fell from the sky, surrounding the dragon like a cage. And in the middle of all that, falling down towards him, with no way for him to escape, was a much larger burst of energy.

“There is no escaping my prison,” ChaosDukemon said. “Perfectly fitting for putting an animal to sleep, wouldn't you say?”

“CARD SLASH! Pawn Device!”

A white dome of light formed over Cyberdramon, reflecting the beams that made his cage. The final burst of light struck against the shielding, and though the earth around him shook... Cyberdramon was unharmed.

ChaosDukemon did a double-take, obviously not very understanding of the situation all of a sudden.

Seconds later, Ryou dropped down in front of the dragon. “Looks like you've got some trouble here, buddy.”

Soon after, a female warrior in golden armor with long white hair landed next to the brown-haired Tamer. Sakuyamon.

“We'll take it from here,” Sakuyamon said.

Before Cyberdramon could wonder who the `we' she spoke of was, he heard two shouts.

“Pa PU PU!”

“DEATH SLINGER!”

A combination of purple energy bursts and pink heart bubbles went spiraling towards ChaosDukemon. The Ultimate knight barely dodged in time, looking about wildly for his attackers.

There was a laugh, and Beelzebumon Blast Mode swooped down, while the green-haired Kitagawa Kenta stepped out from behind a booth with the pint-sized MarineAngemon.

“I always wondered how well Dukemon would stand up against my Blast Mode!” the Demon Lord exclaimed. “Guess trying it out on a fake is the best I'm gonna get!”

ChaosDukemon hissed, raising his weapon and shield. “Be gone with you, demon! You're not who I wish to battle!”

The entire earth trembled, and ChaosDukemon turned, looking up. And up. And up.

“How's about me, sunshine?” SaintGalgomon asked, staring down at him.

Cyberdramon grunted, trying to sit up. “Ryou...”

“Easy,” Ryou said, waving a hand. “The others can take it from here.”

Cyberdramon snarled. “This is my opponent! If we evolve, Justimon could-!”

Ryou sighed, crossing his arms. “Talk to me when you can stand up without wanting to scream in pain.” He grimaced and sat on the ground next to him, cross-legged. “Trust me, I can feel it. And it's not pretty.”

The dragon gave another grunt. Much as he didn't want to admit it, he couldn't fight anymore... but he wasn't going to forget this...

“So be it!” ChaosDukemon cried, black light circling out around his lance again. “If I must defeat all of you to get to Dukemon... then that's exactly what I'll do!”

“BRING IT ON!” Beelzebumon screamed back at him. Without any hesitation - or planning, for that matter - the Demon Lord flew down at him, his claw glowing brightly. “DARKNESS-!”

He didn't have the chance to finish. Moving fast - even faster than he did against Cyberdramon - ChaosDukemon spun back around, striking Beelzebumon straight in the head with his energized lance, plowing the other Ultimate's body straight into - and through - the pavement.

ChaosDukemon looked back up, staring around the area at his other enemies. “Next?”

Sakuyamon's body tensed, and she readied her staff. “Kenta,” Ruki's voice said from Renamon's Ultimate. “I think you might want to hold back and make sure MarineAngemon protects Ryou and Cyberdramon. This is about to get very ugly.”

-- --

“Shuichon?” Lopmon asked softly, poking his head inside his Tamer's room. He found her just sitting on her bed, silently, still in her school uniform. She was looking out her window at the brightly lit night of the city. She didn't say anything, so he continued in. “Did you have a good day today at school?”

The girl laughed at that, a tad bitterly.

Lopmon hopped up on her bed, his head drooping. “Sorry.”

Shuichon looked back at him, smiling slightly. “Don't be.” She paused, and the brief smile vanished. “Jen-niichan told you about what I felt when the Digimon Realized today, didn't he?”

Lopmon nodded sullenly. “I knew when it happened, Shuichon...”

Shuichon sighed, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her head on them. “Jen-niichan and Terriermon are fighting out there again.”

“Indeed, they are...”

There was a gap of silence before she spoke again.

“Lopmon. Did I ever tell you that I'm sorry for the things I said to you back then? Before... before Mom and Dad died?”

Lopmon's black eyes widened for a second, and then he forced a smile. “Do not worry about it, Shuichon. It is in the past.”

“You were right to be afraid of me,” she suddenly muttered.

“Shuichon! How can you say something like that?”

“Because,” she said, looking back at him. “Look what I created...”

“To destroy something evil!” Lopmon said. “That Demon Lord was evil in the purest sense! After everything she did-“

“And then Cherubimon loaded her data. That wasn't just you. It was us.”

The silence returned, and Shuichon looked back to her window.

“You were right to be afraid of what I could do,” she said, finally. “Because I'm starting to be afraid of myself...”

This time, the silence wasn't broken.

-- --

“IZUNA!”

Elemental fox spirits surged from Sakuyamon's palm, flying for ChaosDukemon. As they tried to ensnare him, he leapt high into the sky - and right into a punch from SaintGalgomon.

Twisting in the air, he tried to absorb the impact of the giant robot's fist with his shield. However, SaintGalgomon's sheer weight alone made certain that didn't do him much good. The knight was knocked across the sky, slamming into the ferris wheel - the force of which made the entire structure collapse on top of him.

“I don't suppose we can hope against hope that'll be it,” Sakuyamon muttered.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Ruki asked back.

“Sakuyamon! MarineAngemon!” Jenrya's voice boomed from SaintGalgomon. “Cover Beelzebumon, Cyberdramon, and Ryou-san!”

Already, ChaosDukemon was crawling out of the wreckage. Sakuyamon landed beside Beelzebumon, singing a soft song as a shield of cherry blossoms surrounded them. With a small cry of “Pi!”, MarineAngemon had meanwhile encased his partner, Ryou, and Cyberdramon in a protective blue heart bubble.

“Alright, Jen!” SaintGalgomon shouted. “Lets rock his world! BURST SHOT!”

Compartments all over the giant Ultimate's body opened up, revealing enough rocket launchers and guns to make a small army jealous. He instantly opened fire on ChaosDukemon, unleashing an insane level of firepower on the Ultimate that was barely bigger than a very tall human.

They saw ChaosDukemon look up in just enough time for explosions of fire to erupt all around him. For a moment, he was lost in the smoke and explosions... until he came leaping out of the flames, above SaintGalgomon's line of fire.

“Not so fast!” SaintGalgomon retracted his weapons, activating the large, yellow missiles on his shoulders. “Now that you're up in the air... GIANT MISSILE!”

The twin missiles rocketed off for their target, the frowning faces on them actually smiling brightly as they neared the Dukemon double. “DEMON'S DISASTER!” The black light from his lance shot off again, and he swept it through the air, cutting through both missiles. The mid-air explosion was massive, tossing ChaosDukemon back to the ground again.

He crashed hard once more. It made little difference in the landscape, as the battlefield of the festival grounds was then little more than a large collection of rubble and debris strewn about everywhere.

By the time ChaosDukemon could sit up again, he was face-to-face with Beelzebumon's positron gun. The barrel of which was glowing brightly with purple energy. Beelzebumon's three green eyes squinted, and the Demon Lord bared his fangs. “You stupid son of a bitch,” he said. “You think you can take out the great Beelzebumon so easily!?”

“Stand down,” Sakuyamon, standing behind Beelzebumon, said calmly. “You can't beat all of us. If not, I have no problem with my friend here blowing your head clean off.”

“So, yes, please,” Beelzebumon said, and grinned sadistically, “don't give up.”

ChaosDukemon closed his eyes, bowing his head. “Fools. Just what do you think I am?”

“A third-rate phony, it looks like!” Beelzebumon spat.

“No,” ChaosDukemon said, and in a flash, dropped his lance and grabbed the end of Beelzebumon's positron gun. He flipped the Demon Lord over onto his back before he could react, and then quickly reclaimed his lance. Beelzebumon tried to fire a fleeting shot of his gun, but ChaosDukemon dodged it, just in time to block a strike from Sakuyamon's staff with his lance. “I am called the Knight of Hazard, he who is capable of bringing ultimate ruination to all worlds!”

“You sure think highly of yourself,” Ruki grunted as Sakuyamon struggled against their opponent.

“No,” ChaosDukemon said again. “It is not I who chose that title...”

“That doesn't explain why you look like Dukemon!” Sakuyamon said.

ChaosDukemon laughed. “Oh, really? Why don't you ask him yourself? After all... Matsuda Takato is just as much responsible for who I am as he is for what he is.”

For some reason, those words caused Sakuyamon to hesitate for a brief second.

Which was all ChaosDukemon needed. He knocked her back, aiming his lance at her. “It is you who should stand down. It is not you all that I wish to fight. DEMON'S DISASTER!”

Sakuyamon was blown back, and SaintGalgomon was barely in time to catch her in the palms of his hands. “You sure have a poor way of showing it!” the giant robot snapped.

ChaosDukemon didn't respond. He raised his shield, now glowing, and aimed at the sky. “JUDECCA PRISON!” The blast shot up, and moments later, bars of light fell down around SaintGalgomon, holding him at bay.

“Oh crap,” SaintGalgomon muttered quickly before the final blast of power from the attack came down and struck him. The earth rumbled as his humongous body came crashing into it. He lost his grip on Sakuyamon and she tumbled on the ground, unmoving.

ChaosDukemon turned quickly, slamming his foot onto Beelzebumon's positron gun as he tried to lift it from the ground. “Don't even think about it.”

Beelzebumon snarled, grabbing one of his handguns, which ChaosDukemon swatted away with his lance. He then kicked the Demon Lord in the head incredibly hard before pointing his lance at MarineAngemon, who was still protecting his Tamer, Ryou, and Cyberdramon in his shield. “I suggest you stay where you are.”

For a moment, there was nothing. No one moved. SaintGalgomon, Sakuyamon, Beelzebumon, and Cyberdramon had all been injured or weakened, and yet ChaosDukemon showed no signs of slowing down.

Then, there was light.

“ROYAL SABER!”

The blazing beam of energy cut across the shadows of night, slamming into ChaosDukemon and carrying him along until his slammed into the remains of the ferris wheel, an explosion erupting from the impact. Grunting, ChaosDukemon fell to his knees as smoke rose from his body. He looked up, and then... he laughed.

Standing in front of the injured SaintGalgomon and Sakuyamon, with Guardromon hovering overhead with Hirokazu, was a white armored knight with a flowing, crimson cape. He held the same weapons as ChaosDukemon, and the lance was already lit up with another charge of bright light.

“You who have hurt my friends!” the white knight cried. “For this unjust attack, you will not be forgiven! From this point on, I, Dukemon, shall be your opponent!”

 

-To Be Continued

 

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NOTES: This is one of the longest fights I've ever worked on... and it's still not over yet! The next chapter is going to be FUN.

For those paying attention and watching Savers, you'll notice a couple of names dropped in this chapter. So, yeah. It's a bit more than uniforms that I'm adapting here. Trust me, everything is done to the benefit of the story and fleshing out the universe.

One might be wondering, three chapters in, what all this stuff in the plot has to do with the X Antibody, considering its in the summary but hasn't even been mentioned here. Aside from Bearmon's insult to Ryuudamon last chapter. It's a vital part of the plot, so just wait a bit. This series is just getting warmed up.

 

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NEXT: Divided Paths: Factor of X

Entry 1.04 - “Crimson and Azure! Dukemon VS ChaosDukemon”